November/December Prayer Update

Outreach

“¿Quieres una cita?” or for the non-Spanish-speakers out there, “Do you want a date?” This phrase was the theme of our first outreach for the year. The catch… the date is with Jesus!

We spent a whole day on the sciences campus with a bright yellow sign portraying this question, some candy and a variety of teammates and students throughout the day. The idea was to promote awareness about Vida Estudiantil and to invite students to our activities, as well as share our faith when opportunities arose.

We created a flier that helped us do this. At the top it asked this question. It then explained how to have a “date” or a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

The outreach was a hit. We talked to about 200 students in all. Close to 60 signed up to find out more about our activities. We had many great spiritual conversations. At several points, there were 6 or 7 different groups or pairs of students talking through the gospel or other spiritual questions.

Highlights:

-One student decided that he wanted that “date” with Jesus Christ, and turned his life over to a relationship with Him.

-Watching the students from the movement eagerly and effectively share their faith and invite others.

-Meeting up with students we had met earlier in the year on this campus (several of which have since started to come to some activities).

Real Life

As you may have heard or seen certain things lately about the political unrest in Venezuela right now, let me fill you in a little on our actual situation.

There were riots on our campuses and in other cities off and on in the last few weeks leading up to the December 2nd referendum vote.

This meant some time away from campus for us. Which in a way was actually quite a blessing. We were able to hold a lot of activities in our apartments, which really served as a refuge both for us and for our students. It provided a lot of opportunity to spend quality time together and to deepen relationships. It also led into great conversations with students about peace, hope and placing our trust in God.

Thanksgiving

The week of Thanksgiving marked a bit of a change for us. Sunday night we traveled 8 hours on the overnight bus to Maracaibo. We spent the week meeting with all of the Crusade staff from around the country both Venezuelan and N. American, talking about the past 9 years of Crusade in Venezuela and dreaming about the future. We also began planning for our national conference in March… a huge production, and the biggest event of the year!

Thanksgiving was spent in the home of the national campus directors of Venezuela (Americans) and their family. It was a great celebration with lots of good, familiar food, all the staff, and lots of time together to thank God for all He has done in our lives, and in this year.

NOVEMBER IN PHOTOS

During the riots leading up to the December 2nd referendum vote we were forced to hold some ministry activities in our apartments, away from campus. We held a midday prayer meeting rather than the normal weekly meeting.

It was a very intimate time with the students who were able to come. We spent time in prayer for the university, for the students’ future and for the vote and the future of Venezuela.

Several students who were brand new to the ministry attended. It was very exciting to see some who had never really prayed before crying out to God for their country and their future.

Here is yet another gorgeous view of the Andes Mountains, from the gate of out apartment complex. Aren't they amazing?!

For Halloween we had a team pumpkin carving party and made carameled apples. Chelsea and I decided to put Ivan's "cartoon face" on our pumpkin. I'd say there is some resemblance, wouldn't you?

One of the days of our Staff Conference in Maracaibo we were given passes to a Private Club, complete with pool and canopies to meet under. I'm sure you're thinking... how does this count as work?! Actually, we spent most of the day beginning planning for the National Conference coming up in March. (I was very happy though for a quick break after lunch to swim, and a chance to stay for a while longer after the day of meetings ended to PLAY!)



Keith and Sheri Onishi, the National Directors here in Venezuela worked very hard to make sure that we wouldn't feel too homesick on Thanksgiving. We celebrated the day together with all the National staff and the Onishi family. The day was complete with all the traditional foods we might be missing, time in prayer and worship together, and time to just enjoy each other's company. (i.e. playing Dance Dance Revolution while waiting for pie... Having only played once before, the Onishi's three children, including 7-year-old Tucker, all beat me horribly!)

DECEMBER

December was a hard month in terms of the ability to do ministry activities. With the Referendum vote on the 2nd and students’ desire to be out of school for Christmas break, life continued to be interrupted with small riots on campus until the various parts of the University decided to shut down until January. We ended up with only about 6 days to be on campus in the whole month of December!

The highlight of the month was our Christmas party before students began heading home for the break. We were all pleasantly surprised with the turnout. There ended up being about 60 students present, many of which had never been to a Vida event or maybe had only attended once or twice.

I think we all had been thinking of it more as a party primarily geared toward those students who attend regularly, but God had other plans. It ended up being a great opportunity to spend quality time with many of these new students. Keren, one of the older girls in the movement shared the gospel with us in the context of understanding the true meaning of Christmas.

Of course, no Christmas party could be complete without some dancing!!

PRAISES:

Praise for many new students involved, several of which are very natural leaders and very "gung-ho".

Praise for our Fall Retreat in November: We had a smaller turnout than expected, but it was a wonderful time of learning and growth for the students who attended.

Praise for the huge group of students who were exposed to Vida Estudiantil and Christianity at our Christmas party.

PRAYERS:

Pray for our team and the student leaders as we begin to work through what it means to create a movement that will multiply and continue, rather than just a student club or a ministry.

Pray for organization and guidance in setting up discipleship with key students, and in helping them set up discipleship with younger, newer students.

Pray for finances and permission from parents for students to attend our National Conference coming up in March.

Pray for our student leaders, that they would grow in vision and in leadership.

Pray for our newer students who still don't fully understand what it means to be a Christian.

Thanks again for all of your support, prayers and encouragement!